The movie feels a little underwritten, like they needed to work a little harder on making the plot flow. But I want to HIGHLY recommend the director's earlier movie, "Strapped." It was also made up multiple stories that came together in one narrative, but it was much more focused and fun.
22 Reviews
Better than I thought it was going to be
robert-8592321 April 2019
I expected sleazy gay trash bordering on porn but what I got was a reasonably intelligent thought provoking introspection into gay love - in the broadest sense of the term.
Don't expect a lot of eye candy. There is a lot of gratuitous sex but it is tempered by good acting, professional cinematography and a moderately good script. It does lapse periodically, but on the whole you're left with a feeling that at least a couple of the characters have achieved a life-changing moment.
I watched it with my husband and it provoked some discussion between us. Good for a lazy Sunday afternoon.
Don't expect a lot of eye candy. There is a lot of gratuitous sex but it is tempered by good acting, professional cinematography and a moderately good script. It does lapse periodically, but on the whole you're left with a feeling that at least a couple of the characters have achieved a life-changing moment.
I watched it with my husband and it provoked some discussion between us. Good for a lazy Sunday afternoon.
Boring and tedious in the middle, but fantastic start and finish redeem it
jm107016 November 2016
Beautiful Something is a movie about a handful of gay men in Philadelphia. Each is dealing with a personal crisis (not coming-out angst or gay bashing, thank God), and their paths intersect occasionally over the course of a single night. Except for one couple (Jim and Drew) and one ex-couple (Brian and Dan), none of the men knew each other previously. The totally safe and comfortable world in which they live, where everybody is gay and very well adjusted to being gay, is slightly dream-like, but it's entirely believable.
Brian (whose story this mostly is) is a published poet suffering with both deeply unhappy relationships and writer's block. He is by far the best written and acted character I have ever seen in a gay movie -- in almost any movie. He's complex, mercurial and fascinating; every second he's on the screen I had to remind myself to breathe. I would give several years of my life to see a whole movie about only him. He's an endlessly interesting character played by an amazing actor.
I'd never heard of Brian Sheppard, but I will find every movie he's ever been in and watch it. The scene between him and Dan (the mostly straight man who's the love of his life) is one of the best scenes I have ever seen anywhere. Grant Lancaster, who plays Dan, is the only other actor who can share a scene with Brian Sheppard without disappearing into the wallpaper.
Brian's story begins and ends this movie, and it makes holding on through the really bad stuff in the middle well worthwhile. But when I watch it again (and again, and again), I'll know I can fast-forward through all the crap with Jim and Drew and Bob. Brian has a few scenes in that vast mid-movie wasteland, so I'll catch them on the way through, like oases in a desert.
Those other three characters, and the actors who play them, are like stale leftovers from a BAD gay movie, and I wish Joseph Graham (the writer-director) could have just left them out. They're boring people, and their story is dragged down by overwrought melodrama, pretentious dialog, and completely unbelievable performances. The scenes between Jim and Drew aren't all that bad (except that Jim is in them), but the horrible, endless scene between Jim and Bob in a stretch limousine and a restaurant, and afterwards at Bob's house, is unbearable. It made me want to throw up and pull all my hair out.
Jim is such an obnoxious character that any time he was on I wanted to stop the show. He's as awful as Brian is wonderful. The scene where Jim is trying to read Shakespeare is profoundly embarrassing. When the character is supposed to be an actor, the actor playing him really should be able to act. Graham definitely should have avoided Shakespeare, at least. I never could stand the character Jim, but hadn't noticed how bad Zack Ryan's performance was until that scene.
But the endless scene at Bob's house finally DID end (thank God), and Brian rushed down from heaven like an avenging angel to rescue the movie from the bottomless pit of schlocky melodrama it had nearly fallen into. The last ten minutes or so (I was loving it too much to watch the time) are stunningly, breathtakingly, achingly, gloriously beautiful -- beautifully written, beautifully directed and beautifully acted.
So Brian and his story -- and Brian Sheppard, the marvelous actor who plays him -- raise this movie way, way, way above anything else you'll see this year or any year. If he weren't so extraordinarily good, the rest of the movie might seem better. But he IS that good, and he makes it worth doing whatever you have to do to see this movie.
Despite the fact that the scenes without him are so bad they're unwatchable, Brian (the character) and Brian Sheppard are SO GOOD that I'm giving the movie ten stars. I started to average it out and give five, but Brian/Brian are just too spectacularly good to drag down.
Brian (whose story this mostly is) is a published poet suffering with both deeply unhappy relationships and writer's block. He is by far the best written and acted character I have ever seen in a gay movie -- in almost any movie. He's complex, mercurial and fascinating; every second he's on the screen I had to remind myself to breathe. I would give several years of my life to see a whole movie about only him. He's an endlessly interesting character played by an amazing actor.
I'd never heard of Brian Sheppard, but I will find every movie he's ever been in and watch it. The scene between him and Dan (the mostly straight man who's the love of his life) is one of the best scenes I have ever seen anywhere. Grant Lancaster, who plays Dan, is the only other actor who can share a scene with Brian Sheppard without disappearing into the wallpaper.
Brian's story begins and ends this movie, and it makes holding on through the really bad stuff in the middle well worthwhile. But when I watch it again (and again, and again), I'll know I can fast-forward through all the crap with Jim and Drew and Bob. Brian has a few scenes in that vast mid-movie wasteland, so I'll catch them on the way through, like oases in a desert.
Those other three characters, and the actors who play them, are like stale leftovers from a BAD gay movie, and I wish Joseph Graham (the writer-director) could have just left them out. They're boring people, and their story is dragged down by overwrought melodrama, pretentious dialog, and completely unbelievable performances. The scenes between Jim and Drew aren't all that bad (except that Jim is in them), but the horrible, endless scene between Jim and Bob in a stretch limousine and a restaurant, and afterwards at Bob's house, is unbearable. It made me want to throw up and pull all my hair out.
Jim is such an obnoxious character that any time he was on I wanted to stop the show. He's as awful as Brian is wonderful. The scene where Jim is trying to read Shakespeare is profoundly embarrassing. When the character is supposed to be an actor, the actor playing him really should be able to act. Graham definitely should have avoided Shakespeare, at least. I never could stand the character Jim, but hadn't noticed how bad Zack Ryan's performance was until that scene.
But the endless scene at Bob's house finally DID end (thank God), and Brian rushed down from heaven like an avenging angel to rescue the movie from the bottomless pit of schlocky melodrama it had nearly fallen into. The last ten minutes or so (I was loving it too much to watch the time) are stunningly, breathtakingly, achingly, gloriously beautiful -- beautifully written, beautifully directed and beautifully acted.
So Brian and his story -- and Brian Sheppard, the marvelous actor who plays him -- raise this movie way, way, way above anything else you'll see this year or any year. If he weren't so extraordinarily good, the rest of the movie might seem better. But he IS that good, and he makes it worth doing whatever you have to do to see this movie.
Despite the fact that the scenes without him are so bad they're unwatchable, Brian (the character) and Brian Sheppard are SO GOOD that I'm giving the movie ten stars. I started to average it out and give five, but Brian/Brian are just too spectacularly good to drag down.
Not very "Beautiful" ...but definitely "Something"
JJ-Chi10 April 2021
Harsh and amazing reality
Coralknight9 December 2018
What I loved most about "Beautiful Something" is the way it accurately portrays the baseline of gay life in the US; random sex, mercenarial encounters, dysfunctional relationships and this constant expectation that there is always something better just out of grasp. This could be applied to the human experience as well, but in gay culture it is reality on steroids. Sex is used as an intro, a bartering tool, a commodity and at times even a weapon. The person you go to bed with is hardly EVER the same person you wake up to. The viewpoint from the main character, a frustrated writer, echos that of an entire community. The ending isn't sugar-coated or campy...it's a conclusion that you either accept or reject at your own demise. Great story-line, believable dialogue and great acting from everyone (even those who are clearly non-actors).
Seeking Beauty In Every Moment
piersoncayla14 February 2022
Some people say this film has little or no plot but then you are missing the point of the movie. This is not about sex yet rather a single moment in the act where something beautiful takes place whether it be the act it self, a shared emotion during sex or what takes place after the act is completed. That moment of bliss. Some spend the rest of their lives trying to chase it repeatedly (Brian/Drew,) while others run away in fear or denial (Jim/Dan.) Or maybe you want to share in someone else's adventure(Bob/Sergio?) However you choose to seek and find your bliss hopefully you discover it with someone you love.
In the land of the cardboard cut-outs
euroGary25 March 2016
Warning: Spoilers
Well, someone's been shopping at "Stereotypes 'R' Us"! In 'Beautiful Something' we have Drew (Colman Domingo), a sculptor who will "die if he cannot make his art"; Jim (Zack Ryan), an actor - struggling, of course; Bob (John Lescault), an ageing homosexual who marvels that his younger counterparts can walk down the street holding hands; and the film's stereotype-in-chief, Brian (Brian Sheppard), a self-absorbed, self-destructive, ridiculously-goateed writer. The film follows them through the course of one emotion-filled night.
This is typical of many American films dealing with the gay community, in that it's very talky and, to be frank, pretentious. It is welcome that each of the characters' personal stories are resolved, after a fashion; but at times the film seems to take an awfully long time getting there. And the sexual content is nothing to write home about either: there are three sex scenes, but in two of them the participants keep most of their clothes on (seriously, who does that in real life?) and the other one concentrates mainly on shoulders-up shots. Boo hiss! Also weakening the film are one or two obvious errors, such as the close-up of Brian's stockinged feet that is immediately followed in the same scene by a shot of him removing his boots.
In the main the four lead actors deliver competent performances, in as much as the one-dimensional nature of their characters allow. The occasional weak link is Sheppard, who overplays the intensity of his character - all nervous gestures and staring eyes. On the other hand Ryan, who goes through the film with everyone telling him how beautiful he is, nonetheless proves that he is more than a pretty face and attractive body, delivering his lines with admirable naturalness.
If this turns up on freeview television I might watch it, but I can't see myself actually paying again to view it. Sorry!
This is typical of many American films dealing with the gay community, in that it's very talky and, to be frank, pretentious. It is welcome that each of the characters' personal stories are resolved, after a fashion; but at times the film seems to take an awfully long time getting there. And the sexual content is nothing to write home about either: there are three sex scenes, but in two of them the participants keep most of their clothes on (seriously, who does that in real life?) and the other one concentrates mainly on shoulders-up shots. Boo hiss! Also weakening the film are one or two obvious errors, such as the close-up of Brian's stockinged feet that is immediately followed in the same scene by a shot of him removing his boots.
In the main the four lead actors deliver competent performances, in as much as the one-dimensional nature of their characters allow. The occasional weak link is Sheppard, who overplays the intensity of his character - all nervous gestures and staring eyes. On the other hand Ryan, who goes through the film with everyone telling him how beautiful he is, nonetheless proves that he is more than a pretty face and attractive body, delivering his lines with admirable naturalness.
If this turns up on freeview television I might watch it, but I can't see myself actually paying again to view it. Sorry!
A disarming film well worth your time...
TrevorJD27 February 2016
I saw this at the Sydney Mardi Gras film festival 2016 to a packed audience who seemed to appreciate this disarming film - judging by the closing applause, and comments I heard while the audience was walking out of the cinema. Set over one night in an urban city it follows the movement of a few gay men of different age ranges, and ethnically diverse, yet all with backgrounds in art or literature; and all looking to connect emotionally (and often physically). It is a beautiful film with good performances and one that keeps you entranced and emotionally connected with the characters – hence a very disarming film. Well worth your time.
Maybe it's just me, but...+
dejaype25 April 2019
A sexy, absorbing movie
dibeyendu27 May 2016
I liked writer-director Joseph Graham's Strapped, and this movie, which is similar in treatment, lives up to the promise of the earlier one. Beautiful Something starts with our protagonist Brian stepping out to a gay bar where he meets a young man who asks him "Are you ummmm...gay?" Turns out he's one of those ambivalent types who's not sure about his sexuality. Brian brings him home and a pretty torrid sex scene follows with the young man going "please f**k me, please f**k me," but afterwards, he's all hostile and angry about it. As the movie moves on, Brian meets up with several other kinds of men, including an ex who he still loves who has gone straight. He also has a brief encounter with Jim, the other main protagonist in the film, which leads to good sex, but no emotional connection. Like Strapped, this movie has some incredibly hot sex scenes, though nothing is shown explicitly. It has a pretty good story line, with lots of different characters to keep you engaged. Though it's funny in parts, the film's mood is dark. There's an underlying theme on art (the protagonists are all artists in some way - sculptor, writer, actor - but I don't think that's really important). I watched it at Kashish, Mumbai's International Queer Film Festival. I hope it gets a larger audience over time.
Four Stories that intertwine in the very original gay film
t-dooley-69-38691614 December 2016
Brian is a frustrated poet who having lost his muse, now has also lost his inspiration. He seeks solace in easy love – that never works. Then there is Jim who is in a relationship with an older sculptor but he feels trapped. An ageing actor's agent, Bob, also cruises the streets in his limo looking for the young boys that will fill the void in his life.
On one night all the stories come together but in a way that is far from obvious and with enough drama to make you want to know more.
Now this also features a fair amount of bedroom rumpy pumpy and it is done in a realistic way. The actors are all excellent here and the direction is spot on. This is a film from Joseph Graham who you may remember from 'Strapped'. In some ways there are recurrent themes that were explored there but this is still an original, subtle, in your face and compelling piece of cinema that I can easily recommend.
On one night all the stories come together but in a way that is far from obvious and with enough drama to make you want to know more.
Now this also features a fair amount of bedroom rumpy pumpy and it is done in a realistic way. The actors are all excellent here and the direction is spot on. This is a film from Joseph Graham who you may remember from 'Strapped'. In some ways there are recurrent themes that were explored there but this is still an original, subtle, in your face and compelling piece of cinema that I can easily recommend.
The Nighttime World of Joseph Graham
dwp-0888628 January 2016
We are back in the utterly strange and utterly human night-world of director Joseph Graham (Strapped). This time, in particular, men are trying to make art at the same time that they are trying to make connections, and they are trying not to sacrifice one for the other, though in the end they often do. These characters are who you and I are when no one is looking. That is the wonderful and unsettling thing about Graham's work: there is no movie-like artifice, no clichéd interactions you can see coming. Emotions erupt at odd times, as emotions do, and under it all lies a fateful loneliness that it is Graham's special task to explore, as he did so well in Strapped. This is another must-see.
Sexy, honest, superbly acted and sensually satisfying
jcsugarman13 January 2017
Among the best of new gay films and an excellent effort by young director/writer Joseph Graham (his 2nd feature), Beautiful Something is original in conception and execution, taut and dramatic despite its restrained pacing (so that the viewer really feels the long night in which the film takes place) and a beautiful film to watch. Most important is the small ensemble cast's sensational acting and the director's and cinematographer's close attention to nuances of actions, facial expressions - the eyes of these actors are a marvel of expressiveness. The screenplay is idiomatic and feels very true, really engaging, if sometimes a touch long-winded.
Aesthetically it's also a delight with all the dark, gritty look and feel of Philly, and of the emotionally torn characters who inhabit it; the musical score and songs (many original with beautiful performances by Ryan Shaw) are also a pleasure as is the marvelous poetry of Richard Siken (from his first book "Crush") which is heard towards the end in voice-over - they stand in as the words and soul of main character, Brian, a poet himself, and come as the painful events of the night explode into epiphany, raw, honest and beautiful. (I found myself rewinding the end credits to ID all the music and poetry!)
The story rests tidily within one dark, wintry night with its limited resolution arriving only as the bright dawn arrives; Brian having been exhausted after the night's sexual and emotional exertions - disappointments - is totally exposed and honest so that the ending has an honesty and expresses each of the characters' vulnerability, through Brian, and this seems to me the film's purpose for being. It's a sexy film too, with some intense, brief and harsh, bareback sex, as well as tenderer moments; I think it's unclear what the director's attitude is toward unprotected sex and that's one of the few problems I've got with the film; but then random, unprotected sex is a reality of gay male sexuality these days and, of course, it adds an darker vibe, and undercurrent to the foolish, impulsive behaviour of the characters throughout the night's rambles and the searches for satisfying connection.
Aesthetically it's also a delight with all the dark, gritty look and feel of Philly, and of the emotionally torn characters who inhabit it; the musical score and songs (many original with beautiful performances by Ryan Shaw) are also a pleasure as is the marvelous poetry of Richard Siken (from his first book "Crush") which is heard towards the end in voice-over - they stand in as the words and soul of main character, Brian, a poet himself, and come as the painful events of the night explode into epiphany, raw, honest and beautiful. (I found myself rewinding the end credits to ID all the music and poetry!)
The story rests tidily within one dark, wintry night with its limited resolution arriving only as the bright dawn arrives; Brian having been exhausted after the night's sexual and emotional exertions - disappointments - is totally exposed and honest so that the ending has an honesty and expresses each of the characters' vulnerability, through Brian, and this seems to me the film's purpose for being. It's a sexy film too, with some intense, brief and harsh, bareback sex, as well as tenderer moments; I think it's unclear what the director's attitude is toward unprotected sex and that's one of the few problems I've got with the film; but then random, unprotected sex is a reality of gay male sexuality these days and, of course, it adds an darker vibe, and undercurrent to the foolish, impulsive behaviour of the characters throughout the night's rambles and the searches for satisfying connection.
Great Discovery
caramia200222 June 2019
The first thing that grabbed me about this film was the lighting. Celestial without being tooo heavenly. The second thing was the sex (I am not gay, and not a man, but sex is sex). I don't usually care for sex with my non-porn movies, but this was different. It had a realness (yes, even with clothes on), a gentle, sweet, sensually loving aspect to it that is rarely transferred to film (Drew was my favorite). It's tenderness, not just sex, which is strangely absent in even Hollywood roms. Humans don't do well when there is little feeling in something; we all want some measure of it, no matter how casual the encounter. And this film illustrates that well. It's hot, which is a tribute to the acting and directing, as it's not explicit whatsoever.
The characterizations are wonderful and complete (it's not for lazy people and we are told all we need to know, for this one night), the acting superb, casting excellent, and production values very good (I missed the errors, as usual, and all movies have 'em). Oh, and I love the sculpture!
Joseph Graham is an amazing director and writer, of any genre. He is now on my list of favorite directors. I see where he teaches film on a college level, which is good for film's future. The writing has me still weeping into my keyboard. The poetry slayed me. Many films tell a story, many films have good production values, many films entertain, but when a film also rings that elusive emotional note, echoing love, beauty and sadness, it is a rare thing indeed. Bravo!
I just read some of the not so great reviews here and am stunned at the low rating. You can pick this film apart, and I cannot comment on gay life, but I take films as a whole work, and this work is outstanding. I want films to inform my life in a significant way. A lot to ask, and seldom met, but so glad to have found this one.
The characterizations are wonderful and complete (it's not for lazy people and we are told all we need to know, for this one night), the acting superb, casting excellent, and production values very good (I missed the errors, as usual, and all movies have 'em). Oh, and I love the sculpture!
Joseph Graham is an amazing director and writer, of any genre. He is now on my list of favorite directors. I see where he teaches film on a college level, which is good for film's future. The writing has me still weeping into my keyboard. The poetry slayed me. Many films tell a story, many films have good production values, many films entertain, but when a film also rings that elusive emotional note, echoing love, beauty and sadness, it is a rare thing indeed. Bravo!
I just read some of the not so great reviews here and am stunned at the low rating. You can pick this film apart, and I cannot comment on gay life, but I take films as a whole work, and this work is outstanding. I want films to inform my life in a significant way. A lot to ask, and seldom met, but so glad to have found this one.
The Last 20 Minutes of Beautiful Something is Truly Beautiful
mgold-815 September 2016
Warning: Spoilers
10 or 15 minutes into this movie, I was pretty disinterested. I kept it on in the background but started answering emails and paying bills and doing other tedious minutiae that I've been putting off. So as not to feel like I wasted an hour and a half of my life watching what seemed to be yet another mostly forgettable gay-themed film.
Well, it turns out I was totally wrong. The scene with Bob and Jim that starts at about an hour and 10 minutes into the movie - and especially a few minutes later when Bob tells Jim about Mike -- that is one of the most beautiful scenes I've ever seen in any movie, ever. The actors are perfect but the main reason they're perfect is because their lines are perfect. The reason I'm writing this review is to say to whoever wrote this scene: you absolutely nailed it. You touched my heart. I watched the last 20 minutes of Beautiful Something 5 times in a row and it made me cry every time.
Well, it turns out I was totally wrong. The scene with Bob and Jim that starts at about an hour and 10 minutes into the movie - and especially a few minutes later when Bob tells Jim about Mike -- that is one of the most beautiful scenes I've ever seen in any movie, ever. The actors are perfect but the main reason they're perfect is because their lines are perfect. The reason I'm writing this review is to say to whoever wrote this scene: you absolutely nailed it. You touched my heart. I watched the last 20 minutes of Beautiful Something 5 times in a row and it made me cry every time.
Love is conquering the mind and taming the heart
Dr_Coulardeau2 August 2017
Warning: Spoilers
Rough and powerful, viscous and fluid, hot and freezingly fearful. A film of pure contrast and even opposition. I just wonder if the full unity we reach at the end is not the result of the sordid and yet pathetic conflicts and tearing up passions and feelings in all the characters all along.
A gallery of something like five main characters around whom the existential situation or situations revolves or revolve. Brian is a poet. Jim is just a lover to Drew, a sculptor, but this Jim has a flimsy episode with Brian and another with the older man (the older man's own lover when he was young died in Vietnam), Bob Williams who does not want intercourse actually but only some gay company to reminisce and cultivate his nostalgia, the only way for him to feel happy. And finally Sergio who is going to be the morning-after consolation gift to Brian after he has spent the night roaming around with a lover who runs away, an ex-lover turned straight who kicks him out, Jim who terminates the relation after his own hormonal satisfaction. Sergio accepts a relation, accepts to speak and tell his story provided he can do what he likes, hold Brian like a human doll you love and embrace and touch and caress.
The first turning point in the film is the poem Brian finally manages to write after having been kicked out by his ex-lover turned straight and other failed episodes. The poem is about "Your Name" meaning the name of the man he loves but no particular name at all. It remains generic and yet each line is what this name brings into Brian's mind. This turns the film into a gay urban 21st century Walt Whitman's "Song of myself," or rather in this case "Song of yourself." It projects us into that generic character with a generic name who has only one defining characteristic, he is loved by and he loves Brian, and as such opens up doors, gates and windows for us to get into the world of love.
The second turning point is the time spent by Jim with Bob Williams, drinking some, making half a strip tease, dancing with and for Bob, reminiscing life, Bob thinking of his dead lover of a long time ago who he has not been able to forget and yet who needs Jim to be reactivated in Bob's memory, and Jim just dancing with Bob, then dancing for Bob and finally stripping for Bob and speaking of his desire to be protected by Drew and yet not to be possessed though the divide is very fuzzy. But at this moment we can finally feel empathetically that the characters are coming to some consciousness that intercourse is nothing but hormonal desire whereas love is a passion that burns inside and possesses or even haunts your mind.
No lecture about it but a clear succession of episodes showing how brittle intercourse is and how strong love could be, with or without any hormonal satisfaction. That is strange how the 21st century is discovering what has been known by the Buddhists for centuries, since Buddha himself who stands in contrast with the Hindus who cultivate, in their Kamasutra and in their gods, physical intercourse as a basically and defining human and divine, human because divine, activity.
For Buddha love is a great human achievement whereas physical or even physiological attachment and satisfaction are nothing of any value since the individual is only attracted by the body of the lover and not the mind, the illumination even or attempt to reach that enlightenment that is residing only in the mind of the person you love and who loves you. The call of the flesh is excessive attachment for the Buddhists whereas the empathy and love from the mind to the mind of the other is a gate to enlightenment. At times though, this mental dimension can be slightly cold, but it is mental and has to be enjoyed in your mind, not in your toes, walking away, running away or escaping the call of the flesh you are not able to control.
That spiritual dimension in this film is utmost and brilliant. It makes us desire to love other people just for the pleasure of feeling the mind, the passions and the empathy of all these others, with maybe one standing out now and then, at times for long periods, at times forever, even after death them does part.
The exclusively gay situation among men only is thus a friendly discovery for those who do not know about it and a homely welcoming warmth for those of us who have experienced this mental and passionate state. A film that should be shown and discussed, along with others of course of different orientations, with all teenagers, as soon as 15 according to the rating of the DVD.
Dr. Jacques COULARDEAU
A gallery of something like five main characters around whom the existential situation or situations revolves or revolve. Brian is a poet. Jim is just a lover to Drew, a sculptor, but this Jim has a flimsy episode with Brian and another with the older man (the older man's own lover when he was young died in Vietnam), Bob Williams who does not want intercourse actually but only some gay company to reminisce and cultivate his nostalgia, the only way for him to feel happy. And finally Sergio who is going to be the morning-after consolation gift to Brian after he has spent the night roaming around with a lover who runs away, an ex-lover turned straight who kicks him out, Jim who terminates the relation after his own hormonal satisfaction. Sergio accepts a relation, accepts to speak and tell his story provided he can do what he likes, hold Brian like a human doll you love and embrace and touch and caress.
The first turning point in the film is the poem Brian finally manages to write after having been kicked out by his ex-lover turned straight and other failed episodes. The poem is about "Your Name" meaning the name of the man he loves but no particular name at all. It remains generic and yet each line is what this name brings into Brian's mind. This turns the film into a gay urban 21st century Walt Whitman's "Song of myself," or rather in this case "Song of yourself." It projects us into that generic character with a generic name who has only one defining characteristic, he is loved by and he loves Brian, and as such opens up doors, gates and windows for us to get into the world of love.
The second turning point is the time spent by Jim with Bob Williams, drinking some, making half a strip tease, dancing with and for Bob, reminiscing life, Bob thinking of his dead lover of a long time ago who he has not been able to forget and yet who needs Jim to be reactivated in Bob's memory, and Jim just dancing with Bob, then dancing for Bob and finally stripping for Bob and speaking of his desire to be protected by Drew and yet not to be possessed though the divide is very fuzzy. But at this moment we can finally feel empathetically that the characters are coming to some consciousness that intercourse is nothing but hormonal desire whereas love is a passion that burns inside and possesses or even haunts your mind.
No lecture about it but a clear succession of episodes showing how brittle intercourse is and how strong love could be, with or without any hormonal satisfaction. That is strange how the 21st century is discovering what has been known by the Buddhists for centuries, since Buddha himself who stands in contrast with the Hindus who cultivate, in their Kamasutra and in their gods, physical intercourse as a basically and defining human and divine, human because divine, activity.
For Buddha love is a great human achievement whereas physical or even physiological attachment and satisfaction are nothing of any value since the individual is only attracted by the body of the lover and not the mind, the illumination even or attempt to reach that enlightenment that is residing only in the mind of the person you love and who loves you. The call of the flesh is excessive attachment for the Buddhists whereas the empathy and love from the mind to the mind of the other is a gate to enlightenment. At times though, this mental dimension can be slightly cold, but it is mental and has to be enjoyed in your mind, not in your toes, walking away, running away or escaping the call of the flesh you are not able to control.
That spiritual dimension in this film is utmost and brilliant. It makes us desire to love other people just for the pleasure of feeling the mind, the passions and the empathy of all these others, with maybe one standing out now and then, at times for long periods, at times forever, even after death them does part.
The exclusively gay situation among men only is thus a friendly discovery for those who do not know about it and a homely welcoming warmth for those of us who have experienced this mental and passionate state. A film that should be shown and discussed, along with others of course of different orientations, with all teenagers, as soon as 15 according to the rating of the DVD.
Dr. Jacques COULARDEAU
Long Night's Journey Into Day
jromanbaker27 February 2021
The greatest works of art reach a point of stillness, of reaching that moment when temporarily life reaches a staying place, or someone, or just living in the moment, for that is all you have. In Gay/Queer cinema ' Theo and Hugo ' reached that place, and in its suffering so did ' Sauvage ' and by chance I find another such film ' Beautiful Something '. The acting is uniformly superb and to single out a few of the actors would do the rest an injustice. It begins at night in Philadelphia and to call this simply a ' Gay ' film would do it a disservice. It is a film about men who are attracted to men; confused men about their orientation and others who are more sure. Essentially it is a homosexual film, and it has no stereotypes but men needing some point to their existence in a male/male world that can often sexually abuse and refuse either affection or love. One is a young man, an aspiring actor, another a sculptor who is his lover and finally a poet who has run out of inspiration, and needs the kiss from a man perhaps more than the sex. In one night their lives get entangled and there is rage and emotional pain and some sex that borders on brutality, but the sex is plainly filmed showing that it can be ugly as well as beautiful. And when the end of the night comes after the poet has finally written a moving and to be memorised poem, the film shifts into a sort of resolution and a coming home. I have not forgotten a fourth man who is almost central to the scenario; a man who is old and recalls a lost love in a scene that is so finely directed and acted I cried. This is no run of the mill film, but a great one and I thankfully have it to watch again and again, as it dispels despair with the ever tentative attempt to live a fulfilled life. And these men talk, and in some oblique way as intelligently as in a Rohmer film, my yardstick for all cinema that aims at truthful engagement and communication. Ultimately the film is human and what better compliment can I pay to it than that.
How did I miss this? Excellent work.
scotartsproduction6 July 2019
This film is a refreshing feat.
Great story, great execution - and the actors brought a lot to the plate. It was nuanced, quiet, reflective and invective.
The casting is spot-on, as the newness-immaturity of one or two really plays into the genuine credibility of the film.
I'd rate this above the forgettable Moonlight, because there's depth to the characters, and the inclusivity and diversity are delivered within the script - and story - which SERVES the film, instead of making it yet another grandstand for the PC crowd.
Excellent work.
Great story, great execution - and the actors brought a lot to the plate. It was nuanced, quiet, reflective and invective.
The casting is spot-on, as the newness-immaturity of one or two really plays into the genuine credibility of the film.
I'd rate this above the forgettable Moonlight, because there's depth to the characters, and the inclusivity and diversity are delivered within the script - and story - which SERVES the film, instead of making it yet another grandstand for the PC crowd.
Excellent work.
A proustian treat
maximefo24 February 2022
Beautiful Something was a pleasant surprise.
The movie reminded me of the experience of going through La Recherche du temps perdu because, like in Proust, the topics of Love, Art, and Time are connected.
What is gay love? The films offers fragmented answers based on the wanderings of a few guys.
The result is an aesthetic and existential meditation on the tormented quest for Ideal and Beauty in the lives of gay men.
The movie reminded me of the experience of going through La Recherche du temps perdu because, like in Proust, the topics of Love, Art, and Time are connected.
What is gay love? The films offers fragmented answers based on the wanderings of a few guys.
The result is an aesthetic and existential meditation on the tormented quest for Ideal and Beauty in the lives of gay men.
Jarring Something
hddu10-819-3745818 January 2020
I really enjoyed the director's previous work, Strapped. And with intriguing and interesting plot-lines, intertwined stories and compelling character studies, Beautiful Something did not disappoint. Overall, I not only found the scenes believable, but in many cases felt myself drawn-into the situations; that's how well written and acted they were. That being said, there really was a glaringly visible disparity between the polished actors (such as Coleman Domingo) and very amateurs, such as Zack Ryan and Brian Sheppard. Those two actually complemented each other in that Zack comes off as wooden and clueless (I seriously don't believe he has had any professional acting experience or lessons prior), while Brian's overacting was just silly and cringe-worthy (it's almost as if he has a perpetual rage that someone said, "just use it!" for every scene...which really didn't work at all. But if you get past the poorer performances, the overall film is definitely worth watching.
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